Apparatus for manufacturing dried feed



Nov. '30, 1937.

w. L; NICGEHEE ET AL APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING DRIED FEED Filed Jan.20, 1956 '2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I INVENTORS! YWzzZZace L.M, .6ekee and HaroldL uhnow,

ATTORNEY 1 Nov. 30, 1937.

w. L. M GEHEE ET AL APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING DRIED FEED Filed Jan.20; 19:56 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS;

ATTORNEY Patented Nev; so, 1937 UNITED {STA-T Our invention relatestothe manufacture of APPARATUS FOR Mil lggFAcTURlNG DRIED Wallace IIMcGehee' and Harold w. Luhnow', Kansas City, Mo.

- Application January 20, 1936, Serial No. 59,935

Claims.,- (01. 3434) more or less diagrammatically a pre ferred formreadily digestible feed for poultry and livestock and it comprises anapparatus'and method of making dry feeds from fresh fodder material,such as alfalfa, clover, soy beans, cow peas, etc., by treating the samein such manner as to retain a large percentage of the available proteidsand the vitamins of the fresh out material.

considerably more nutritious than the corresponding hay, in that theproteids and carbohydrates are more available. When alfalfa' is at thehay making stage, the leaves constitute about to 60 per cent of theweight and they contain approximately four-fifths of the protein of the.

whole plant, but when the cut alfalfa is left in the field to cure theleaves become dry and brittle and the loss by shattering isconsiderable. Rain and dew also may extract much ofv the valuableconstituents, whileloss es by leaching may be as high as 40 per cent ofthe material.

In both instances, the loss represents the most valuable portion of thematerial and reduces the digestibility and palatability of'the'finishedproduct. 1

One of the purposes of the present invention is to produce a dehydratedalfalfa having apable changes in unripe forms of cellulose,starch-, orother-constituents, as well as changes in availproximately the originalcomposition-existing in the green alfalfa, and avoid loss by shattering,leaching, or detrimental changes in the contained enzymes, vitamins,proteids and. carbohydrates.

While we regard our method as more particu-- larly applicable'toalfalfa, yet as a method'it may be applied to other green feeds, such asgrass,- clover, soy beans, 'cow peas, etc. In the case of otherleguminous feeds, it has much the value able proteids and in suchdelicate constituents as the-, vitamins. 1

Grass, alfalfa, clover, cow peas, soybeans, -etc.', cut at the ordinaryhay making stage are 'ompanying' dra 'ing s which show of apparatuscapable of use in the production of -j the described product Fig. l is avertical sectional'view, partly in elevation, of approximately thecomplete appara- .5

tus. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional viewof a grinder whereby the productmay be reduced to any desired degree of jfineness. Fig. 3 is an enlargedcross sectional view on 10v line 3'3 of Fi 1. Fig. 4 is an enlargedcross sectional view on lined-,4 of Fig. 1. H

Fig. 5 is a detail of one of the interchangeable blades of a grindershown by Fig. .2. 15 In the structure shown by Fig.1, 2 designates avertically-disposed furnace restingupona concrete or other suitablefoundation'l. The furnace 2 isdivided into a combustion chamber 6, and amixingohamber 8 surmounted by a sta- 'tionary multi-bladed hot-airdistributor. in communicating at-its lower open end with the mixingchamber 8 and closed at its upper endby a 1 conical top 12.

The upper end of the mixing chamber} is 25 equipped with an annularmember- I! which is ass sted in supporting the hot air distributer l0 7,

and a dehydrating chamber I6, by means of standards I8 extendingupwardly from the foundation I. Thedehydrating chamber I6 is verticallydisposed upon the annular member 14 in axial alinement with the furnace2 and adapted to receive the green fodder at its upper'portion through apipe 20 leading upwardly from a silage cutter and blower 22. The pipe'20 discharges the 35 green fodder into a hopper 24 equipped with anaxially mounted screw oonveyer 26'which'carries the green fodder down toa grinder 28 having interchangeable blades 30 to enable the fodder s tobe reduced to the desired degree of fineness. 0 I,

The hopper 24 and the grinder 28 are axiallydisposed within a duct'32which in turn is axiallydisposed in the dehydrating chamber IS .in the.

upper portion of which it is suitably supported.

The duct 32 tapers towards its lower end which 45 terminates a shortdistance above the apex of the oonicaltop l2. It may not be-desirable toreduce some feeds'further after passing them throughthesilage cutter 22,in which event the .conveyer 2B and the grinder 28 may be removed v fromthe duct 32. a The upper portionof the dehydrating chamber Ii-communicates through a duct 34 with a pied- .mati'c separator 86,preferably .of the cyclone type, having an outlet 38 at its lower endthrough '5 ,05 wardly through the dehydrating chamber l6 it furnace 2through said outlets 46. To insure that the top and bottom of saidfurnace.

which the finished product is discharged, and an air stack at its upperportion through which the moist waste gases escape 'to atmosphere.

In order to obtain a large volume of air to sup port combustion and forutilization in drying the green feed, we provide a primary air duct 42near the bottom of the furnace 2, and a secondary air duct 44 locatedabout midway between Each air duct is of segmental form and extendsabout three-fourths of the way around the exterior portion of thefurnace 2 with the interior of which it communicates through a suitablenumber of equally spaced outlets 46.

The outlets 46 are arranged on a. tangentwith the inner surface of thefurnace 2 as best shown by Fig. 4, to imparta whirling action to the airreceived from a blower 48 and discharged into the approximately equalvolumes of air may be discharged through the outlets 46 a number of thesame are provided with deflectors 49 for deflecting air thereinto fromthe respective air ducts. The outlets 46 provided with the deflectors 49are also equipped with partitions 50 to divide the air and therebyprevent undue friction which would otherwise result if all of the airentering the outlets were permitted to impinge against the curveddischarged into the furnace 2 is heated to the desired temperature withsuitable fuel such as gas or oil discharged from a burner 52 located atthe lowerportion of the furnace.

The distributor l0, which is arranged vertically above the furnace 2,comprises a multiplicity of blades 63 arranged approximately on atangent to a circle intersecting their inner ends 64. The blades 63taper towards their upper ends and are spaced apart to leave openings 56arranged to discharge the hot air with the same whirling motion impartedthereto when discharged from the tangentially-disposed outlets 46leading into the furnace 2.

Inthe operation of theapparatus, alfalfa or other green feed materialfresh from the field is cut into lengths of from one to three incheswith the silage cutter 22 and then blown therefrom to the upper portionof the dehydrating chamber l6 through the pipe 20 which discharges itinto the hopper 24. 'It is then forced'downwardly by the screw conveyer26 to the grinder 29 where it is reduced to the desired fineness-anddischarged by the duct 92 upon the conical top l2 which distributes itoutwardly in approximately a uniform manner in the lower portion of thedehydrating chamber l6. The distributed material is spread outwardly ina comparatively thin layer so that all particles thereof come intointimate contac with the hot air which absorbs moisture there from andconveys the groundfeed upwardly in ahelical path about the vertical axisof the dehydrating chamber l6 to the pneumatic separator 36 ,fro'mwhich'the humid air escapes through the stack 40 while the finishedproductis discharged from the outlet 38. As the hot air passesupcirculates around the duct 32 and thereby prel'ieatsthe materialdescending therethrough and hastens the drying process to that extent.

2,100,907 A v i be the upward circulation of the hot moist air so byadditional hot air supplied through the sec ondary air duct 44. Thus bythe time the hot air enters the dehydrating chamber l6 its temperaturehas been reduced to such extent as to avoid bringing-about undesirablechanges in the available pro'teids and in such delicate constituents asthe vitamins or enzymes, but .is sufficient to dry the feed during thelong travel over the helical path pursued from the lower to the upperportion of the dehydrating chamber l6;

As some of the particles will be separated from each other whileothers'will be grouped together to a greater or less extent, it isapparent that the Green fodder materials which maybe success- I fullytreated with our method and apparatus comprise clover, alfalfa, timothy,corn stalks, and the tops and leaves of soy-beans, cow peas, and thelike.

While we have shown one form of apparatus for carrying out our method wereserve all rights to such other forms and modifications thereof asproperly fall within the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed. v

Having thus described our invention, what we claim and desire to secureby Letters Patent,.is:

1. In an apparatus of the character described, a vertically-disposedfurnace, a burner in the furnace, an air duct having an outlet com.-

municating with said furnace and arranged at a tangent to the'innersurface of the'latter, a

' dehydrating chamber arranged axially above and communicating at itslower end with said furnace toserve as a flue for the furnace, baiiiesat the zone of connection between said furnace and said dehydratingchamber, and means for discharging green feed material into saiddehydrating chamber.

2. In an apparatus bf the characterdescribed, a vertically-disposedfurnace,a hurner in the furnace, an air duct extending partly aroundsaid furnace and provided with a plurality of outlets-communicating withsaid furnace and arranged at a tangent to the inner surface of thelatter, a dehydrating chamber arranged axially above and communicatingat itslower endwith said furnace, baflies at the zone of connectionbetween said furnace and said dehydrating chamber, and means fordischarging green feed material into said dehydrating chamber, said airduct serving to supply. air to support combustion and I to impartwhirling motion-to hot air and products of combustion passing upwardlythrough the chamber.

3. In an apparatus of the character described, a vertically-disposedfurnace, a burner in the fur- .nace, a primary air duct having an outletcom-' municating with the lower. portion of said furnace and arranged ata tangent to the inner sur- C face thereof, a secondaryair duct spacedabove said primary air duct having an outlet com-u municating with'thefurnace and arranged at a tangent to the inner surface thereof, adehydrating chamber arranged axially above and communicating atits lowerendwith said furnace, and means for discharging green feed material intosaid dehydrating chamber, said burner being between the primary andsecondary air ducts.

4., In an apparatus of the character described, a vertically-disposeddehydrating chamber, a stationary distributor, formed of a plurality'ofspaced apart blades axially arranged within said dehydrating chamber andprovided with a conical top, a duct axially-disposed within thedehydrator and adapted to discharge green feed downwardly upon saidconical top to be spread thereby, and

means for forcing heated air upwardly between I communicating at itslower end with said furnace,

a supply pipe extending into the dehydrating chamber at the top thereoffor delivering green feed material thereto, means. arranged axiallywithin the dehydrating chamber for conducting the material downwardly toa suitable point adjacent the zone of connection between the furnace andsaid chamber, and means for supplying the furnace with a large volume ofair under pressure to be heated, said means directing .the heated airupwardly in a helical path about the vertical axis of the dehydratingchamber to dry .the green feed material and with suiiicient force" toconvey it upwardly through said dehydrating chamber with the products ofcombustion from the burner. I

6. In an'apparatus of the character described, a furnace, a burner inthe furnace,a dehydratingchamber arranged immediately axially above andI communicating at its lower end with'said furnace, a supply pipe at thetop of thedehydrating chamber for delivering green feed materialthereto, a duct arranged within the dehydrating chamber for conductingthe material downwardly to a suitable point in desired proximity to theburner, and means for supplying the furnace with air to be heated andcirculated through the, dehydrating chamber to dry and convey the feedmaterial therefrom with the products of combustion.

'7. In an apparatus of the characterdescribed,

' a furnace, a burner in the furnace, a dehydratmg chamber communicatingwith said furnace -to receive hot air and products of combustiontherefrom, means for delivering green feed ma-- terial into the upperportion of said dehydrating. chamber, a duct arranged within thedehydrating chamber for directing the material downwardly forming apartition between upper andl'o'wer por tions of the chamber forspreadingthe downwardly directedv material, and means for circulatingair upwardly through first the furnace portion then the upper portion ofthe'dehydrating chamber to dry the material.

9. In anapparatus of the character described, a vertically disposeddehydrating chamber, a furnace below the chamber in downwardcontinuation thereof and in communication therewith, a burner in thefurnace, a duct adapted to discharge green feed into the dehydratingchamber,

furnace and dehydrating chamber, formed to directairjand the products ofcombustion through spiral paths as they travel upwardly" toward thestack and to prevent entrance of the feed into the furnace.

10. In an apparatus of the character described, a vertically disposeddehydrating chamber, a furnace below the chamber in downwardcontinuation thereof and in'communication therewith, a burner in thefurnace, aduct adapted to discharge green feedinto the dehydratingchamher, a stack and separator in communication with the upper endof thedehydrating-chamber, ducts in communication withthe furnace to provideair to support combustion, anda' distributor at the zone of connectionbetween the furnace and the dehydrating chamber formed to direct theproducts of'combustion through spiral paths as they travel upwardlytoward the stack from the distributor and to prevent entrance of thefeed into the furnace; said last mentioned ducts being arranged todirect air into the furnace along spiral paths extending upwardlytoward.the distributor when the burner is in operation.

11. In anapparatus of the. character described. a vertically disposeddehydrating chamber, a

furnace below the chamber indownward continuation thereof and incommunication therewith, a burner in the furnace, a duct adapted todischarge green feed into the dehydrating chamber, a stack andsepaigatorin-communica 1 tion with the upper end of the dehydratingchamber, ducts incommunication with the furnace to provide air tosupport combustion, anda disi tributor at the zone of connection betweenthe furnace. and the dehydrating chamber formed to direct the productsof combustion through spiral paths as they travel upwardly toward thestack from the distributor and to prevent en- Qtrance of the feed intothe furnace, said last mentioned ducts being arranged to direct air intothe furnace along spiral paths extending upward-' ly toward thedistributor when the burner is in operation, said discharge duct for thegreen feed '7 terminating above the distributor on the axis of thedehydrating chamber whereby pieces of green with, a burner in thefurnace, .a duct adapted to discharge green feed into'fthe' dehydratingupwardly through the said I "to tinuation thereofand in communicationtherechamber, a stack and separator in communication with the upper endof the dehydrating chamber, ducts in communication with the furnace toprovide air to support combustion, and a distributor at the zone ofconnection between the furnace and the dehydrating chamber formed todirect the products of combustion through spiral paths as they travelupwardly toward the stack from the distributor and to prevent entranceof the feed into the furnace, said last mentioned ducts being arrangedto direct air into the furnace along spiral paths extending upwardlytoward the distributor when the burner is in operation,'said dischargeduct for the green feed terminating above the distributor on the axis ofthe dehydrating chamber whereby pieces of green feed are caused to fallby gravityonto the distributor to be dried by contact therewith whilepieces of green feed of relatively lighter weights are entrained in theair and products of combustion traveling upwardly through the saidchamber, said distributor having a portion thereof adjacent thedischarge duct formed to spread pieces of green feed of relativelylighter weights the green feed as it-falls from the duct.

13. In an apparatus of the character described, a vertically disposeddehydrating "chamber, a furnace below the chamber in downward continuation thereof and in communication therewith, a burner in thefurnace, a duct adapted to discharge green feed into the dehydratingchamber, a stack and separator in communication with the upper end ofthe dehydrating chamber, ducts in communication with the furnace toprovide air'to support combustion, and a distributor at the zone ofconnection between the furnace 'and the dehydrating chamber formed todirect the products of combustion through spiral from said burnerserving to maintain the-distributor at a relatively high temperaturecompared to the atmospheric temperature.

14. In an apparatus of the character described,

a vertically disposed dehydrating chamber, a furnace below the chamberin downward continua- 'ducts in communication with the furnace toprovide air to support combustion, and a distributor at the zone, of.connection between the furnace and the dehydrating chamber formed todirect the products of combustion through spiral paths as-they travelupwardly toward the stack from the distributor and to prevent entranceofthe feed into the furnace, said last mentioned ducts being arranged todirect air into the furnace along spiral paths extending upwardly towardthe distributor when the burner is in operation, said discharge duct forthe green feed terminating above the distributor on the axis of thedehydrating chamber whereby pieces of green feed are caused to fall bygravity onto the distributor to be dried by contact therewith while areentrained in the air and products of combustion traveling through thesaid chamber, said distributor being provided with openings therethroughand a plurality of spirally arranged blades for the purpose specified.

15. In an apparatus of the character described, 7

a vertically disposed dehydrating chamber, a furnace below the chamberin downward continuation thereof and in communication therewith,

- a burner in the. furnaoe,,a duct adapted to discharge green feedinto-the dehydrating chamber, a stack and separator in communicationwith the upper end of the dehydrating chamber, and a distributor at thezone of connection bea tween the furnace and dehydrating chamber,

bustion through spiral paths as they travel upwardly toward the stackand to prevent entrance of the'feed into the furnace, said duct having.formed to direct air and the products of com- 'a length thereofextending downwardly from the top of the dehydrating chamber through theupwardly traveling air and products of combustion to heat the green feedprior to its entrance into the chamber.

WALLACE L. MCGEHEE;

HAROLD W. LUHNOW.

